A Discussion Of The Effects Of Narrative Structure In Frankenstein

   I recently picked up a copy of the original 1818 edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a novel widely regarded as being the first science fiction novel; this novel has long been on my reading list, so it was quite interesting to read and interpret. As I was perusing this book, the structure of the narrative and how that structure supports the themes in the book stood out to me greatly; I had many thoughts on the narrative structure.

 The first thing that jumped out at me as I was reading this book was the frame narrative, which is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a story which serves as a framework within which a number of other stories are told.” At the start of the book, the story is narrated through a number of letters sent by a ship captain to his sister; this then shifts to a narration of past events by Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of the novel, after he is rescued by the ship captain; midway through Frankenstein's narration, the narrator then switches to that of the creature that he created. The disjointedness in time of the frame narrative creates a sense of remoteness from reality in the novel, which plays into its unsettling atmosphere; this in turn allows the narrative to support the theme. 

    Furthermore, since Frankenstein is told from first-person, the objective credibility of the narrators is left uncertain. This further detaches the narrative from reality, which allows for exploration of complicated themes. Each layer of first-person narration that is added to the frame narrative provides a different perspective of the plot; this adds up to create a nuanced view of the themes of ethics and human nature woven throughout the book, while simultaneously maintaining distance from the real world in a way that forces the reader to consider those themes deeply. 

 Another aspect about the narration that stood out to me was how the setting of the book confined the narrative; the secluded setting that all three narrators find themselves hems the narrative perspective in and forces it to remain limited instead of omniscient, furthering the previously mentioned sense of isolation. The fact that none of the narrators interact with this setting also adds to this effect, also communicating to the reader that the key theme of human morality is intangible and abstract.

 In short, these aspects of the narration help to add depth to the ideas that Frankenstein is trying to convey; as shown in this example, the elements of narration in books as a whole should be carefully looked at when critically analyzing themes in the plot, as they frequently help to illuminate such themes.

 - Jade